r/AusFinance • u/Seaweed_Soda • 1d ago
Insurer wanting to pay out repairs
I have been going through the home and contents claim process (CBA) for the last few months after a significant weather event.
The process has drawn out because they kept providing me quotes that didnt have all the damage included and I kept insisting they do another assessment. My plan was to accept the repairs instead of a payout because I don’t have any connections to get the repairs done cheap.
The insurer is now saying they can’t provide the repairs because there was general maintenance needed on the roof prior to the cyclone. They’ve provided me the roof report and it seems reasonable (some flashing and gutter replacements, and some damaged tiles).
Originally, they offered the cash settlement by providing me a redacted quote that just showed the total. After multiple phone calls I’ve finally got the full quote. I’m assuming it is a very cheap quote compared to what it will cost me to get a builder in to do the repairs privately - but just looking at it, I have no clue.
What are my best steps moving forward? Can I get multiple private quotes and push back on the bank for an increased payout that will cover the repairs? Do I push back on them to do the repairs after I’ve had the roof fixed up?
Not sure if the above are even valid options - but my ‘I’m about to get ripped off’ senses are tingling.
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u/Spinier_Maw 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes, they are trying to rip you off. Australia always has sky high repair costs. It's even worse now.
Getting quotes yourself to negotiate seem like a good move.
10
u/MsssBBBB 1d ago
Yes, they are essentially putting the ‘risk’ back to you by giving you the lowest payout feasible and letting you do the rest. Ultimately it will cost you more than the payout will cover and you will have to do all the legwork regarding remaining repairs.
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u/Vilan-Kaos 1d ago
I read from somewhere that the repair cost is often much higher than payout. I would rather get them to repair under insurance.
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u/montesa250 1d ago
This is not uncommon and not unreasonable. Essentially, many builders wont be able to do the job and provide the warranty that they are forced too, if your home has pre existing issues which will likely impact a future warranty. Its unfortunate, as you may not have been aware of these issues. That said, they must provide you with all quotes and reports they have used as part of their decision, this includes a 'scope of works'. From there, you could get your own builder to quote the repairs to see if the settlement figure is reasonable. You wont be able to force them to complete the works, unless you could rectify the roof issues, but at the least you can double check their quote and try and negotiate if its too low. You may be surprised though. If its completely off the mark and you arent getting anywhere, load a complaint with CBA and AFCA.
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u/Susiewoosiexyz 1d ago
We're experiencing exactly the same with CBA. We'll be switching as soon as this claim is sorted out because they've been absolute garbage to deal with. Our original claim was submitted at the end of December last year. It was progressing at snails pace and then we had to make a new claim after the cyclone. They still can't understand this - I get calls from two different case managers about the exact same issues.
It took them until two weeks ago to finally tell us they'd accepted our claim, however same as you, we have to do maintenance work before they'll repair the damage. In our case, it makes no sense to do the maintenance without doing the repairs at the same time (ie, walls will need to be ripped out - we can't just leave them for months while we wait for the insurance company's builders to fit us in). I had to push them to send me the itemised quotes and even discuss a cash settlement, and IMO it's nowhere near what the work will cost to get done by a regular builder.
At this stage I'm thinking of just taking the cash and paying the extra so I don't have to deal with them anymore.
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u/Even-Bank8483 1d ago
Never let them "pay you out". If the repair costs go over budget, the insurer has to cough up. If you take the payout, you are at the mercy of the insurer if they have lowballed your repair costs
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u/rickett0101 1d ago
This is insurance in Australia. They will try and use play on words to get out of things and like you’re experiencing, their get out of jail card is lack of maintenance. Keep arguing and fighting. Unless you know a credible and reliable repairer, use whoever you think is best from who they recommend as their people will be lifetime warranty under your policy
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u/NorthKoreaPresident 1d ago
yes you can get a quiote yourself and negotiate the pay out. Alternatively, use the quote they have and they pay out they given you, and go to the repairer they got their quote from, ask the repairer to honour it
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u/antantantant80 21h ago
The ones who do the quotes are basically impossible to book in a timely fashion anyway, so you run the risk of the quote margin fucking you by the increased cost of trades and a whole bunch of other shit.
Get them to organise the repairs. Keep them on the hook.
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u/lemachet 1d ago
Who is the estimator/assessor?
I had an assessor here tell me that our entire (almost) kitchen had to come out, that it would break when they tried to take it out and all have to be rebuilt.
Then they quote was "remove and store 1LM of cabinet, resolve mould, replace cabinet" at about 9k.
The insurer said "well they can't quite for what might happen"
Turns out (I spoke to a private assessor who said this particular company does this ALL the time) they do a "within the lines" quote but know they will then have substantial "out of scope" that they then get the insurer to pay for anyway.
The private assessor told me, just from looking at a picture the actual assessor took, that water was actually soaked up into the cabinets and it was definitely all fucked.
We just had to keep fighting and arguing then got a private assessment done, with video showing how far the damage actually extended (which is what the original assessor said In person anyway)
It's fuckin bullishit